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Two mesa residents are dead, and a man who is the subject of a lawsuit brought upon him by the slain husband and wife is being charged with killing them.

Goleta resident Corey Lyons, 50, was found around 9 a.m. by Santa Barbara police and brought into the station for questioning about the double murder. Lyons was subsequently arrested. He will be charged with the murders of his brother, Daniel Lyons, and Lyons’ wife, Barbara Scharton, who were killed by shotgun blasts early this morning in a bedroom of their large, three-story stucco home at 621 Aurora Ave.

SB Sheriffs Dept.

Corey John Lyons

Just after 1:30 a.m., police received calls of five to six gunshots fired and the sound of broken glass. When they arrived at the residence, police noticed a broken window in the second floor of the home. After attempting to call the cell phone numbers of the residents of the home but failing to elicit a response, the SWAT team was brought in. Upon entering, authorities found two victims, both dead from gunshot wounds.

Neighbors-several of whom didn’t hear the gunshots early this morning but did hear the SWAT team break into the home through a now-shattered front door just after 6 a.m.-said Corey Lyons, a Goleta resident, had built the home for his brother just a few years ago. At three stories tall, the home is a strange fit for a neighborhood of mostly single-story houses. A sliding door leading from a bedroom, where the bodies were found, to an outdoor patio on the second floor-the main level of the home-had been shattered, and ripped drapes were still blowing in the wind as the sun came up.

The coroner didn’t remove the bodies until around 3:15 p.m., after the Department of Justice had been brought in to investigate the shooting. “It’s a pretty grim scene inside,” said Santa Barbara police Sgt. Mike McGrew.

Daniel Lyons, 55, was a senior partner at the Fresno-based law firm of McCormick Barstow, LLP, and had been running the Santa Barbara office on West Anapamu Street since June 2007, handling cases in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Lyons has litigated with the firm since 1980, the same year he passed the bar. He most recently was concentrating in insurance defense litigation in areas ranging from transportation and trucking accidents to crop loss. “He was a pretty passionate guy,” said Ron Ballecer of McCormick Barstow. Many knew him as a very tough litigator.

His wife, Scharton, 48, used to work in the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, but hadn’t worked there for a few years. She joined the California Bar in 1994 after attending law school San Joaquin College in Fresno. John Skiles, a prosecutor who joined the Fresno DA’s office at the same time as Scharton, called her a tenacious prosecutor who nonetheless had a soft heart. “I was always glad she was on my side,” Skiles said, adding that she was loyal almost to a fault. Scharton, after retiring, also did some work for the Santa Barbara DA’s office as extra help. “I’m a little shell-shocked,” Skiles said after hearing word of the murders.

By Paul Wellman

The home of Daniel Lyons at 621 Aurora Ave.

Neighbors knew little about Lyons and Scharton. The couple didn’t permanently live in the house but would visit for two to three days at a time. “They kept to themselves,” said one neighbor, who saw the couple often riding bikes around the neighborhood. Another said they were very nice people. “We don’t know what happened, but it’s tragic,” she said.

Working on his Santa Barbara home was a new hobby for Lyons, who often traveled the state for work, Ballecer said. And while police aren’t suggesting a motive at this time, the very home where the couple were killed is the subject of a lawsuit they filed against Corey Lyons in October 2008. The two alleged that Corey Lyons, who runs Select Construction Service, talked them into letting his company build their home, stringing them along and extorting as much money as possible from him. They also alleged he delayed construction as long as possible for personal profit.

The couple was set to give a contract to Cortan Construction, when Corey Lyons allegedly promised his brother that other companies were attempting to “bend him over,” and that only Select would give him a fair deal.

While Cortan submitted a bid of $573,178, according to court documents, Select Construction promised total costs would be under Cortan’s bid, with construction taking no longer than a year. In reality, the total cost was $1.2 million, according to the couple, and construction took more than two years to complete. In addition, Select Construction didn’t purchase workman’s comp insurance for its employees and allegedly charged the couple for medical bills stemming from an on-site injury. According to documents relating to the suit, Corey Lyons also convinced his brother to purchase more than $100,000 in materials himself, in an effort to “save time.”

Daniel Lyons and Barbara Scharton believe they were owed in excess of $350,000. The case was scheduled to go to trial in August. The couple bought the property, which had a 1,400-square foot home on it, in 2004. The new home is 2,630 square feet.

Corey Lyon’s wife Mildred, who is also named in the lawsuit, declined to comment Monday.

Comments

I knew Dan and Barbara and found them to be extremely pleasant neighbors. They liked our home and toured it many times to get ideas for their remodel. His brother Corey was pleasant towards me and always allowed me to "snoop" through the home (the remodel) as the remodel progressed. He too seemed nice and helpful. Who knew?Dan And Barbara were very athletic and were seen riding around the area on their bikes. I ran into them at Eilings Park one day and they had just run up the big hill there. They loved my two German Shepherds and often played with them. I will miss them.

Willbath, this is what these house flippers do; they lie to the seller, get the best deal they can, then once they own the house, they are legally free to do whatever they want...and what they want is to wring as much profit out of the house in as short a time as possible.

We sold our house in SB to a guy like that. He showed up with his little boy and a sob story about being a newly single Dad who needed a place to live quickly...and we bought his line of BS. We broke our backs to get out of there early so he could get in, only to learn later he was a professional house flipper who routinely used his child and that story to soften up sellers into reducing prices and getting out fast...which we did.

Short story is that he basically destroyed any character that house had with his "updating", and tried to flip it a few months later, only to find himself in the middle of the market sliding into the toilet. I saw the damage he did to that house when he had it on the market, attending an open house as a member of the public. I was sickened, but he owned the house and had the legal right to do whatever he chose to it. Doesn't make it right, but it is the law:-(

He spent a couple of years going from realtor to realtor trying to sell that house, eventually taking a hit of approximately 988,000.00 when one factors in the "improvements" of approx 250k, 2 years of property taxes, and several reductions in price.

It wasn't pretty. And he deserved every bit of it!

As to this story...I know nothing about these people or this story except what I'm reading in the paper, and that is never the whole story. As someone else said, three lives are destroyed; two people murdered and one imprisoned for taking their lives.

why is the independent taking such efforts and investagation or rumor gathering to make a case against the shooter?Just from the above comments the dead lawyer started out by lying to the seller about waiting five years to start construction.This is not at all the first case I have heard about were a lawyer used their ability in the courts to get out of paying for the construction of their home.Our so called Justice system does not work at all for all the reasons that make it that way and this is the result.One guy built a beautiful home and the other was a leach, but that being said, I am not saying it has anything to do the tragic ending.

What will we do for money? Does respect come from a three story home in a single story neighborhood? Sue or take advantage of our brothers. This is an extreme example of our society, greed! When is enough, enough? Take everything away and it all seems to come down to money. These were everyday people, that have lost their lives and have affected so many others. I wonder if knowing the end result would have made a difference?

Barbara was my Sister. Dan was my brother in law. All they wanted to do was build their dream home to live in. They worked very hard all of their lives and didn't live high on the hog...all in order to build this home. They were not flipping this house. Yes...they built sooner than planned, but that's part of life. It doesn't make them crooked lawyers or jerks. They were good people who got cheated. They were only standing up for themselves.

It wasn't a 3 story home. It was two stories with a rooftop deck. The actual living quarters were not much larger than the average house. They built up so they could see the ocean. They didn't need a 3 story home to gain respect. They were hard working, moral people and had the respect of everyone who knew them...aside from the monster who murdered them. I have no doubt who murdered them.

I knew them all. All of them were great people and a pleasure to be around. Dan and Barbara were NOT flipping the house. This was going to be their home eventually. Corey did not rip them off as some would like you all to believe. He put his heart and soul into that house. He made many changes/suggestions regarding the view and things the architect totally blew. I have personal knowledge of a different and VERY fair contractor giving a bid of 900k+ to build the home based on what was called out in the blueprints, and was sure the project would exceed that number. There were MANY custom additions and changes made to the home and it would not have been half the house if it were not for Corey. He was very proud of the home he built for his brother. I can just imagine how betrayed he felt when he received notice that his own brother was accusing him of such deceit. This was not really about money. This story between these brother's goes way back to childhood. It is a very sad situation.

You are wrong. I know the details of the lawsuit more than you do. Corey did rip them off as well as State Fund Workman's comp. It was all about money. Corey cares more about money than human life. I can imagine how betrayed Dan felt as the bullets were entering his body.Signed...Dan's sister in law and Barbara's sister.

I cannot imagine how you must feel. Barbara was a beautiful person with an infectious smile. She was a very lovely lady and I liked her very much (excellent cook too!). I used to tease Dan about his train engineer's overalls and the cartoon t-shirts he liked to wear. I was told about the lawsuit well before it was filed with the court. I do not know all of the details, but I do know more than you think. Corey does not care more about money than he does human life. He has always been a right fighter. Standing up for the little guy. It is clear that I may know more about the family dynamics than you do. It certainly does not justify murder. I am telling you, this was not really about money. Corey and his family do not live the high life. They are hard working, and are wonderful people who have had to deal with their own tragedies. In no way does this discount what he has done. Corey deserves whatever he has coming to him now.

Millie is a wonderful person? You've got to be joking. You must know the facade...not the real person.This would never have happened if money had not been in the picture. Money would not have been in the picture if Corey hadn't defrauded them.But I appreciate your point of view and your feelings. Barbara was fooled by Corey and Millie for a time also.I too will miss my Sister's cooking:-)

money would not have been in the picture if Corey would have never let his brother BACK into his life..... at Millie's encouragement.... and if he would have stayed away from the Aurora project like his gut was telling him to. Perhaps you do know a different side of Millie than I do. Yes I do know a great person, not a facade. I do not want you to think that I condone what has happened. Not even for a minute. I liked Miss Barbara so much I drove to Santa Maria one time to drop off some samples for her. It was very obvious how much those two loved each other. I did not realize that they were married though. The last time I saw them she was wearing an old skirt he had bought her on a trip south. It meant so much to her that she just kept sewing it when it would tear. Good thing it was kind of a patchwork type skirt! She was so cute, could not bear to toss it out. I do however disagree with the details of the lawsuit. As Barbara's sister, you would agree with what she told you, however, there are ALWAYS two sides to every story, and it is best to collect ALL of the information before you make a decision about what is fact and what is theory. I do believe that Dan & Barbara believed they were taken advantage of... I just do not think that is what happened. I looked at the blueprints, walked the jobsite, talked about the initial 900+ bid, saw the changes that were made (structurally) walked the finished project, and am very familiar with remodeling and what things cost. It was very easy to see where the money went. They had a custom gate made by a local artist... which was gorgeous, but it was very pricey. Way more than what was called out. Miss B was so proud of the Grohe fixtures she bought. They were originally $1000.+ and she got them for only $600+ (each). Her comment was that they had to put all high end stuff in the home because "this kind of house deserves it". It was evident that the home was a $1.2 mil build. You could see it everywhere. The Nana walls are like 6k per panel.... each panel is only 5' wide... that means the glass door/wall costs around 25k+ just for product... not including installation, metal beam headers, and everything required to weatherproof it. I am unbiased in my observation, as I hold no kind of loyalty to either party. Dan and Barbara saw and paid every bill. If they thought something shady was going on, they could and should have spoke up at the halfway mark.

Corey would have never let his brother back into his life if he didn't see $ signs. FYI...I'm done with this because I do see loyalty for Corey and Millie here. I won't be answering anymore comments. I know the truth. I saw original documents, but I'm not going to make a list here.

Wait a minute. It is a matter of record in the civil case against Corey and Millie that Corey was prepared to sign a settlement agreement on May 4...I think that was the date... where he would would pay I think it was $350,000 cash and sign over a piece of undeveloped property. Sounds guilty to me.

I am sorry that you feel that way. I am not loyal to anyone but myself. And by the way things turned out, it looks like he was not planning on signing anything. Regardless, he needs to pay for what he has done. I too have do doubt he is guilty, and hope he is punished to the maximum extent of the law.

With life in prison or the death penalty at stake...he has nothing to lose at this point by maintaining his innocence. The police are not sharing their evidence with the public. Maybe they have enough to convict him so they aren't offering him a plea deal. Maybe he's begging for his life like Barbara and Dan.

I don'[t know who any of you people are. But I am related to the two brothers and know there is no way Corey would of done this. He was all about family and Daniel was just a vindictive greedy man who didn't care about anyone but himself.

I agree. ANYONE who actually knew BOTH brothers knows that there no way corey did this. Ive known corey al my life. My father was bestfriends with him since grade school. Corey has been through hell and back with what life has thrown at them. Corey wouldnt of snapped over $. with what he and his family have gone throughthis $ issue is nothing. HE doesnt have it in him to kill